Four Afghan civilians shot dead at army checkpoint

Paratroopers shot dead four Afghan civilians yesterday, close to the site where, less than 48 hours earlier, Taliban snipers had killed a British army dog handler.

Troops opened fire on a vehicle north of Sangin in Helmand province after its driver ignored warning shots and refused to slow down as it approached a British checkpoint designed to thwart suicide bombers.

Soldiers, believing the car was carrying explosives, opened fire just after 7am near the army's remote forward operating base, Inkerman, where on Thursday Lance Corporal Kenneth Rowe was killed during an ambush by Taliban snipers. Yesterday it emerged that Rowe, from the Newcastle area, and his explosives sniffer dog Sasha had been due to leave their remote base in Helmand province last Wednesday.

The following day he joined a foot patrol from Inkerman into the notorious green zone - a strip of dense foliage used by the Taliban - where they were ambushed. During the intense firefight six paratroopers were also injured.

An investigation will, meanwhile, be launched into the checkpoint shooting. However, a spokesman for Nato's International Security Assistance Force said that the situation had been 'caused by the reckless actions of the vehicle driver'.

Rowe's death takes the number of British service personnel who have lost their lives in Afghanistan since the start of operations in November 2001 to 112.